Morocco Delays Adoption of Euro 6 Emissions Standard for Vehicles Until 2027

Initially set for January 2025, the adoption by Morocco of the European Euro 6 environmental standard for the homologation of new vehicles marketed on the domestic market will only be effective from January 1, 2027. A draft decree has been submitted to the General Secretariat of the Government to this effect. The "Euro 6" standard is one of the alternatives found to fight against environmental pollution, reduce toxic gas emissions from vehicles, especially heavy goods vehicles. Euro 6 aims to combat carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, unburned hydrocarbons, and particulates. Thus, automakers must integrate advanced technologies to reduce polluting particle emissions from diesel vehicles, including "the use of diesel particulate filters, selective catalytic reduction systems, or NOx traps," Assabah specifies. The ban on any new car not meeting these requirements should therefore come into effect from January 2027. Also, vehicle registration would only be subject to this requirement from January 2028, instead of January 2026.

Why this two-year delay? This measure comes in "a global context marked by geopolitical tensions, inflationary trends and supply difficulties, and especially the costs induced by this standard, which could threaten the renewal of the Moroccan vehicle fleet," can be read in this draft law initiated by Mohamed Abdeljalil, Minister of Transport and Logistics and Leila Benali, Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development. The postponement of the entry into force of the new standards will have an impact on the success of the fleet renewal programs launched by the Ministry of Transport and Logistics, in particular the "Safe Autocar" program. The latter aims to encourage road transport professionals to acquire vehicles equipped with road safety enhancement devices, in order to improve road transport, since the acquisition cost of new vehicles will increase by 5 to 12% for all brands.